Barack Obama hails 'next step' with Burma

Barack Obama has hailed his historic visit to Burma, marking the next step in
a new chapter between the countries.

Speaking after a private meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr Obama, who is the first sitting US president to visit the former pariah state, said he has seen encouraging signs of progress in the country in the past year.

Those signs, he said, included Ms Suu Kyi's release from house arrest and her election to parliament.

President Barack Obama speaks as Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi listens following their meeting at her residence in Rangoon (AFP/Getty Images)

Long shunned because of a repressive military rule, a transition to democracy began last year after a nominally civilian government took office and began taking steps toward democracy.

Ms Suu Kyi however sounded a note of caution over Burma's rapid political reforms, warning of the risk of a "mirage of success".

"The most difficult time in any transition is when we think that success is in sight," she said at her lakeside home alongside Mr Obama. "We have to be very careful that we're not lured by the mirage of success."

Later, Mr Obama, used a speech to urge an end to sectarian unrest in the western state of Rakhine, saying there was "no excuse for violence against innocent people".

"National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country's future, it is necessary to stop the incitement and to stop violence," he added.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Rangoon for a glimpse of Mr Obama's motorcade as he headed to the parliament building for a meeting between the President and his Burmese counterpart Thein Sein.

U.S. President Barack Obama tours the Shwedagon Pagoda with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Rangoon (AP)

Among the crowd were hundreds of students wearing matching school uniforms of white shirts and dark green sarongs. Many of those gathered on the streets waved American flags and some held up homemade signs reading "Welcome Obama."

"No authority asked us to welcome President Obama. I am here to support President Obama and also to see him," said Soe Nyunt, a 27-year-old labourer who waited for Obama before going to work.

President Barack Obama and Burma's President Thein Sein hold a meeting at the regional parliament building in Rangoon (AFP/Getty Images)

Meanwhile dozens of political prisoners were free as Mr Obama visited, according to an activist.

Soe Tun, a leader of the 88 Generation student movement, said 44 political prisoners were released on Monday.